It suprises me that there isn't much interest in this field, particualrly from American Treo fans; you could buy your GSM Treo 600 locked to Orange but below the retail price on a european ebay site and unlock it once it arrives at home.

Orange may not sell to non-UK based customers but ebay users will. Take me for example, I have a brand new Treo from Orange. There is nothing to stop me selling it on to you, it is also far cheaper to buy a second user Treo 600 on ebay than it is to buy at full price from Treo-Ireland + Sellers charges. Don't forget that most buyers in the UK will have paid very little (if anything) for their Orange branded Treo.

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hirsty,

The unlock code is tied to the IMEI. The unlock process involes entering a service menu on the handset and then entering your unique unlock code. Orane will normally ask for a year's rental up front in order to provide the code. The general exceptions to the rule are long term Orange users and high spend customers.

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Once the unlock code is entered, some part of the device's software is changed. It didnt take long for SPV owners to find out which line of code in which file, was changed to unlock the handset. Should be even easier on Palm for those with any knowledge of software coding or reverse engineering?

Orange may not sell to non-UK based customers but ebay users will. Take me for example, I have a brand new Treo from Orange. There is nothing to stop me selling it on to you, it is also far cheaper to buy a second user Treo 600 on ebay than it is to buy at full price from Treo-Ireland + Sellers charges. Don't forget that most buyers in the UK will have paid very little (if anything) for their Orange branded Treo.

Yes, I know, but the sellers clearly indicate in theur auctions that they will not ship outside the UK.

What you have been told is correct. Certain manufactuers don't issue the networks with the software to generate unlock codes. This is normally the smaller companies; Sharp, Alcatel and Handspring fall into that catogory.

I'm waiting for my unlock code too. As much as I love my Treo, Orange have been so poor (Where's the 12 months free Open Access I was promised on my Square Deal?!) I'm in two minds as to whether I should wait a P900 on my long term T-Mobile account.

I dont think so if you write a email to tmo they will send the unlock code in like a day. I have done it 4 times in past 6 months

Actually they no longer do unlocks via an email request.. One must initiate it with a phone call, and then TMO will contact HS for the code (at least they did it this way just last week in my case), but will contact you by phone or email once they have recieved the code from HS. In any case, it's cerainly possible to do with TMO, but other carriers have differing policies when it comes to subsidy unlocks.